Filed under: GirlTalk, Hospitality PR, Marketing & PR | Tags: appetizers, applebee's, Boston, Boston college student, Boston restaurant, Boston University, bottega fiorentina, brookline, chain restaurant, citysearch boston, cocktails, college, Communications, date, dinner date, emerson, first date, Hospitality, Hospitality PR, Italian restaurant, Lifestyle, longhorn, lunch date, Newbury street, Nightlife, panera, pasta dishes, PR, Public Relations, Restaurant, restaurant PR, sandwiches, sangria
Yet again, I find myself inspired to post in response to a reader comment! A few days ago I posted about my love of hospitality PR and my passion for the experiences of eating out, going out, and traveling.
I also professed my disgust with chain restaurants, as they lack any unique personality and usually come along with a range of problems from inadequacy of service to poor management. Most of all, however, I just hate the vibe of chain restaurants. I feel too much like an anonymous member of the masses.
One reader was appalled with my lack of affection for chains:
“oh please there is something to be said for hokey style chain restaurants where else can u take a first date with little money(emerson student) and know exactly what you’ll be charged
also comfortability knowing your way around, dress code and other familiar things. you know exactly what your meal will be and that it will taste good because it never changes Chains deserve a special place in restaurant lore some people do not want any surprises”
I feel as if you’ve been thwarted by some non-chain restaurant or heinous first date experience and have been frightened by your own vulnerability. Relax, buddy, they’re not all like that. The girls and the eateries.
“hokey style chain restaurants.”
Oh dear.
First of all, I just want to say that we are talking about this NO-NO specifically in relation to first dates. Obviously if you’re dating someone and you’re out at lunchtime and looking for a place to eat, go ahead and suggest the Panera that’s nestled on the street directly in front of you. It’s just not the right spot for a first date, in my opinion.
Second of all, there are obviously many different types of females out there. Some have upscale requirements, some have picnic-style requirements (a cute, inexpensive first date option, by the way!). Um, we’re flexible. Relax, we’re not looking for a dinner cruise and orchestra seats.
Third of all, we understand you have no money–we’re not all prisses thriving on our parents’ credit cards. I work four days a week, and still maintain a lifestyle similar to that of such prisses, because I prioritize.
If it’s important enough, prioritize. I’m a single girl who pays for herself, and I make out just fine. That being said, I don’t have many other things to spend my money on, save monthly bills, groceries, credit cards, and the like. I’m not trying to say I know how you feel as a guy with no money, or a human being with no money. It’s not the greatest position to be in, but don’t let it lead you to AppleBee’s.
But most importantly, NON-CHAINS ≠ $$$$
Take her to Bottega Fiorentina–on Newbury, not in Brookline. People love it for first dates, and the menu (authentic Italian) has a wide range of pastas, sandwiches, dinners, and salads that are revered around the neighborhood and beyond (by a lot of those prisses as well, incidentally) and hover around $10 each. The vibe is chill, metro, warm, and contemporary but never snooty. They have a great but manageable selection of wine for around $7 a glass and amazing red wine sangria for about the same price. Tell them I sent you. Literally.
Plan It
I feel like this comment comes from an experience in which you chose a place and it ended up costing way more $$$ than you expected. A novel idea might be to look at the menu ahead of time. They post them outside the restaurant (who knew!) and you can shriek at the price of the lobster ravioli sans judgment. Better yet, most notable spots have pdfs of their menus online. You don’t even have to get off the couch. Or go to a site like City Search and read customer reviews. They’re really honest about the price and the food.
There’s nothing more awkward than a freshman first date in tacky Easter Sunday clothes at one of those restaurants where two different wine glasses that your Keystone expertise has had yet to encounter are waiting for you on the table and everyone there is thirty-six and over. Don’t let this happen to you (again?). Prepare.
Choose the Environment
Now that the weather’s getting beautiful, sit outside at a restaurant with a patio during lunch. A. Lunch is always cheaper or the same price. B. the atmosphere makes up for your tight budget.
Hence, you’ll pay the same as if you had gone to Longhorn, but she won’t have to hear Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban belt on soft 106.7’s country equivalent.
Yes, I do know that a lot of young women like Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban. But I do not. I’m from New Jersey. And New York. No fluffy twangs, please. And no fried things that shouldn’t be fried by anyone, except Paula Deen.
Frame It
You’re doing the asking. So ask her out to drinks over appetizers. She won’t order more than two drinks, tops–and if she does you probably don’t want’er. Or go for coffee. Girls eat. coffee. dates. up. She’ll think secretly that your sensitivity only makes you more masculine. Plus, if it doesn’t go well, there’s a flexible expiration date. Or, if it’s going great, you can hang out over those $2 cups for hours. Just don’t order anything with the words “caramel,” “mocha,” or “frappuccino” in it.
I’ve got your best interest in mind, commenter, don’t be mad! I’m starting a list of places for you. I’ll post it shortly. For now, try Bottega.
Filed under: GirlTalk, Hospitality PR, Marketing & PR | Tags: aquitane, banq, bond, Boston, Boston college student, Boston restaurant, Boston University, brasserie, Communications, French restaurant, gaslight, Hospitality, Hospitality PR, langham hotel, Lifestyle, Nightlife, PR, Public Relations, Restaurant, rocca, savant project, Twitter, union bar and grill, vlora
As I mentioned on Twitter a little while ago,
I think I’m in love. With a restaurant.
Some things I should mention about myself first:
1) I ♥ eating out.
2) I ♥ going out.
3) I ♥ going on vacation.
Well, duh. Me and eighty five billion other people. But I’m definitely not a homebody.
4) I’m so much more about putting my limited amount of college kid $$$ toward experiences rather than possessions.
5) Also, forgot to mention, I HATE chain restaurants. I believe firmly that they are completely devoid of management personality, neighborhood relevance, employee relations, employee incentive/devotion, and draws for customer return. What a poor system.
HENCE, I’ve started trafficking in amazing or niche or chill or noteworthy restaurants at which to eat. One of the best things about eating out–which I realize might be obvious to many–is that each meal/time of day proposes a distinctly different kind of experience.
For example, if my girlfriend and I haven’t seen each other in a month or two, we’ll pick a spot on Newbury with a patio and sit there for hours over a few courses, ordering everything from sangria with the appetizers to cappuccino for the reminiscing that comes at the end of every great meal-directed frienaissance.
Certain restaurant experiences are not to be missed: special Sunday brunches, Thursday night drinks over easy college-kid foods at joints like Sunset Cantina, Saturday night birthday dinners at places like…well, I don’t want to shame my cred with the grossly high-profile, uninteresting-by-industry-standards-but-still-mainstay restaurants I’ve always enjoyed. Many are on Newbury. I’m working on it.
FYI, my friends and family went with me to Chili’s for my birthday every year until I was 19, so no need to judge me as a better-than-thou purse-flailing brat. I just like what I like.
My current TO EAT AT list of restaurants in the Boston area includes:
Banq–my friend won’t stop pulling up the website to convince me
Rocca–appreciating the website’s personality
The Savant Project–restaurant week alerted me to this one
The Langham’s Bond–execs at my internship tipped me off to it
Aquitane–a Google search for an Easter brunch destination revealed its alluring site
Union Bar and Grill–another brunch-worthy locale with tons of buzz
Vlora–a friend from the inside recommended it so of course!
A little while ago my friends and I (group of 10?) went to Gaslight Brasserie, a beautifully different (from the usual Boston uniformed blah) French restaurant in Boston’s South End for brunch. As I gushed earlier, it definitely got me.
First off, the design was perfectly unique to the brasserie–seasoned wood, a warm but sturdy color scheme of cream and dark cherry, and just the right amount of referential decor, so to speak. It felt original, but I still knew I was in America. My group was seated at an ideally oversized table and–as a few of us had received bouquets in honor of a special occasion–were asked if our flowers might be put in vases with some water on the tables. K, they kinda had me there already.
My first bellini out as a 21-year-old: fabulous.
The Brunch Specials options: absolutely delicious.
The “French fries”: we could. not. stop.
The caffeinated beverages: even better than we had desired.
The pastries and breads: Please.
Filed under: Hospitality PR, Marketing & PR, SmartyPants | Tags: Ad, Advertisement, Club, Gallery, Hospitality, Lifestyle, Nightclub, Nightlife, Photos, PR, Public Relations
To my surprise, today a Facebook photo tag divulged my presence in a Boston venue’s online photo gallery. It got me thinking about the functions of these establishments’ photographers and related PR possibilities.
For some locales, like the Rumor/Venu and Estate/Suite households, web albums promote to roving investigators of nightlife niches on a personal level. We all want to see what it actually looks like in there and how existing customers seem to like the offerings. Content, content, blah blah blah.
But these galleries also narrow community boundaries. Some young customers even stalk venues’ sites until the photos are posted, lending them a Facebook-like quality. The albums create a network of people with common interests and neighborly relationships.
“Who made the cool kid list?” a loyal college-age client phrased it for me. Apparently I did? Aside from a few shots of newcomers and unknowns, most of the 25 or so pictures chosen feature the same in-demand clients.
Another less apparent effect of these galleries is the benefit to employees. Bartenders, upper management, waitresses, DJs, promoters–employees at all levels–will appreciate the acknowledgment and inclusion.
Indeed, I have watched a friend employed in the hospitality industry log on alongside coworkers to check for new albums repeatedly. Snapshots serve as a kind of product of their labor and as reminders of the fun they had while working. The simple effort propels cyclically a sense of personal pride in the company they work for.
This just reminded me of the first time I explored the Marc Jacobs site as a teen. I didn’t understand why the brand would post photos of subjects with whom only a select few share close friendships or even mutual awareness of existence.
But I just used select unconsciously. And I did remember MJ’s photos. In fact, I can recall some quite vividly. There was definitely an album highlighting a birthday party and another from a work-related event.
While some companies profess to desire a distinctly up-scale and limited clientele, event-driven enterprises depend more on an inflated customer base. Without everybody and their brothers, the room would be empty. No guests, no partay.
MJ presents another example of such extremes: I can stumble in right now and buy a $1,500 bag or a pair of $10 rubber flip flops.
But if I were buying the bag I would have to walk upstairs.
Lifestyle brands must stroll along a tightrope that lies equidistant to aisle 6 at your local Wal-Mart and a company branch that caters to an entire region of the U.S. or even the world.
These web albums might just achieve the perfect balance to relate to both high-end clients and their own executives as well as middle-to-lower level employees and average college kids and twenty-somethings…and everyone else in between.
